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My fondest memories of Desbreko/Jon were in the AIM chats. I still have most of the chat logs from back in the day (2003-2007), and reading them reminds me of what a kind and knowledgeable guy he was. The group chats with him are a time that I will never forget, and were the highlight of my young teenage years.

My thoughts and condolences go out to his family. Thank you, Mrs. Goudy, for raising a young man who touched so many people, and for coming on the forum to speak. Thanks Mike and Laura for letting us all know.

And especially you, Jon - thank you for your life. I hope you've found the ultimate master sword.

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I just saw the news from Beth and I am stunned. We drifted apart over the years but I sometimes reminisce back in time when we had theO chats, skype calls.. AIMs. You touched many lives in more ways than you probably knew. One particular time stands out to me, in the early days of our acquaintance. You went to boil some water in the microwave and I remember thinking, "who the heck boils water in a microwave??" That memory still makes me smile.

You were incredibly kind, and such a genuine person. Like many others, I don't know what to say that can express how I feel in this moment. Life is unfair and it's heartbreaking to think about what you had to go through. I'm close to tears as I write this now. Just know, that in my heart you will never stop sharing us with your delightful, spot-on screen shots. You will never stop being that wonderful person. You will never stop being Desbreko.

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A few things have changed the past years like working full time, co-habitating with another human, and using a very different set of slang these days, but apparently I'm still staying up way too late when I should be sleeping.

Hey guys, been a while.

I was at work when Laura messaged me about Des' and my original thought was "no f--king way... holy crap."

I got along with Jonathan really easily. He didn't let stupid things rile him up and couldn't be bothered by petty dramas that we tended to observe from... others. He was my never-emptying source of prime screencaps all through the many years of caption battles and still the guy I think of when I see anything Rozen Maiden. Dude was awesome and I'm sad I didn't have the chance to tell him that more sooner.

That said, I won't lie, I have definitely not been broken down the same way as some of you guys have. I'm very sad that Jon is gone and that I didn't message him more before the end, but overall I'm still going on alright.

I am and always will still be the old man who has seen too much.

I had a friend from work pass away from complications of leukaemia some years back (Graft vs Host Disease is seriously messed up), and I actually ended up being a pallbearer during his funeral. I've had a very close friend who has been dealing with depression and suicidal thoughts for a lot of the past 3 years as well, and in a lot of ways he has put my mind into a degree of preparation for what I may have to deal with some day (though I hope to all hope that day never comes). And a lot of you may still remember that one week many, many years ago one of our closer friends here almost got away from us in a similar way.

Who knows, maybe I'm running out of tears to shed? Probably not.

The worst things really can happen in an instant. Sometimes we can see it coming, other times all it takes is a tree and a windstorm like what happened to one poor local boy a couple weeks ago. Things can and will happen to us and the people around us, and with technology the way it is, the world is a whole lot smaller and our groups of friends are getting wider and wider.

People we know will one day not be there. This is part of the life experience. It still sucks, but that's not gonna stop this truth.

That said, while a lot of us have drifted away from this site, we can't help but acknowledge that we've been shaped by it a lot, and a lot of our younger formative years as sort-of adults started here. We all grew into the people we are not thanks to the people we met here.

And this is why even though the last time I threw a message back and forth with Jonathan was in 2013, I can still tell people around me now about how chill and easygoing he was, how he was probably a huge fan of at least one thing they love, and why so many people now, all around the world, will still grieve for him so much now.

Let me tell you guys something kinda ridiculous: I started posting here less, more or less abandoned my duties as a team member on this site (still really sorry about that, Adam!), and overall only popped back to write an essay or two about how my life had been going about girls I took far too long to get over. Despite that, my Firefox homepage is still "theotaku.com/backroom/".

Even if we don't use the site as much now, we don't have to close the connection.

Des' worked hard to help code that stuff, damnit...

....okay, maybe it was actually really easy for him...

Either way, even if this reunion is for the worst reason, just let it remind you all that everyone who affected your life here will continue to do so once you're well into your grown-assed adult lives now.

We're all still here. And you all still mean something to everyone here...

...oh crap...

............I was supposed to have a cup of tea in Des' honour today. Oops.

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Des was a moderator when I joined, so in my teenage excitement that automatically meant he was super cool and awesome; I later came to know this was a completely accurate description of him. He was always honorable, funny, charming, and immensely knowledgeable and encouraging. For the few times I did get to speak with him directly, he was nothing but kind and well-spoken. I always admired him, and I still do. It's such a shame that he's gone. I can only hope, and try, to enjoy life and know my passions as deeply as he did.

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I was thinking...cancer treatments and funeral costs are expensive even with insurance. If Desbreko's Mom (or even Laura on her behalf) want to set up a gofundme page I'm sure that we could all pull together and help a bit. I know that there aren't a lot of us left around here and the total raised won't be a huge amount, but if we can help the family of a young man that meant so much to this community, then I say that we show why we are a special place and pull together!

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I.... I had no idea Des was suffering from cancer. I hadn't spoken to him in years... This really breaks my heart. I always looked up to Des. I would be more than happy to try to donate to his family if I can.

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I think about OB every now and then. A decade ago, it was my favorite place on the internet. It's kind of strange to see so many familiar names in this thread.

I didn't know Desbreko personally. He invited me to join the OB staff when I was 14 years old. I remember being so excited and telling everyone I knew that I was going to be a moderator. I think my name on here was Amelia back then.

To his friend and and family, I'm sorry for your loss. Des helped me grow here on OB and I'll always fondly remember the time I spent here.

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So I reached out to the family and they told me that everything has been paid for. However if you would like to, they would rather you donate whatever you are willing to the places that helped Desbreko with his treatments to further the cause of finding a cure for cancer. I have found them for you guys and the links are below:

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I wasn’t really close with Desbreko but I have nothing but respect for the guy. He was well-composed and I’ve always enjoyed reading his thoughts on the Zelda franchise and anything gaming related. All of his youtube video game walkthroughs and no damage runs are mighty impressive and a joy to watch. He made it look so easy.

I believe he was one of the first persons I’ve played Mario Kart and Smash Bros. Wii online with, and those were good times.

It's a damn shame he is no longer with us. May you rest in peace, Desbreko.

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It has taken me a while to respond here because every time I went to say something, I couldn't find the right words. I think I'll still fail to really describe my feelings, but I'll give it my best shot.

I've been away from OB (and this whole community generally) for a long time. Admittedly I don't really keep in touch as closely as I should, and so, the first I heard about this was via a Facebook message from Adam. I had to re-read it a couple of times, because it felt completely out of left field (given that I don't use Twitter at all, so I wasn't aware of Jon's condition).

It's really hard to summarise years of knowing someone. I asked Jon to be a moderator pretty quickly after I became the admin here; he was an obvious choice, because everything he said somehow communicated a feeling of kindness, warmth, and wisdom. He always had that aura about him, and so it was very easy to see - without even knowing him very much initially - that he was a unique and special person.

For a very long time, Jon was really my number one supporter and colleague in the sense that we worked closely together, we talked regularly via AIM, and he actually counselled me during some fairly dark times (in terms of what was happening with me on a personal level).

There was this air of effortlessness about him; every challenge was surmountable, nothing was ever too hard or too much work. He was so incredibly dedicated that I used to actually ask him to "take a break and stop working on OB for a while!" - he was like a machine, and he wouldn't stop until something was done, no matter how huge the task.

Although I haven't really been part of the community for a long time now, I have to acknowledge that OB was a huge part of my life at one stage. And Jon was someone who I thoroughly enjoyed working with, and who became a friend and confidant.

Rest in peace, Jon.

Mrs. Goudy, thanks for posting here for us - it was lovely to hear from you, and I'm glad to know that you and your husband have a sense of how much Jon was loved by so many people. If there's anything I can do to assist you, please don't hesitate to ask. :-)

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I don't keep up with OB very often, I check back from time to time and to hear of Desbreko's passing is heartbreaking. I knew he was going through treatment, I thought that he'd make it. Like everyone here I have very fond memories of his presence here. Cancer sucks. RIP Des.

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I am sorry to bump this thread. Des and I barely interacted, but his posts were always non-combative yet full of passion for the stuff this forum was for: video games and anime. Even when two people were going at it (e.g., I think his name was PoisonTongue? lol), his post would have a complete lack of judgement on either side, just focusing on getting things back to the topic at hand.

Doing what he does - going through life enjoying his passions without getting in the way of anyone else's - is something I've only just started to appreciate, but still fail at doing. I'm at a place in my life where I have to hear a lot of life stories, and cancer is always such a jarring end to a narrative. The strange thing is, the most frustrating part of this to me is that Des did not get to enjoy Breath of Wild...

I did not know Des personally, so I will refrain from saying he had a life well lived. However, I can say adamantly I want to go through life the way he did.

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Des.... This is what I get for not logging in often. Drink some tea up there for me, big guy! Sorry to find out about your passing a year too late. Your last visit to oB was 8-6-16... I shall now go re-read the RPGs we rocked way back in the day. Thanks for all you've done to help with Jitsuryuku and OmniShore!